Alcohol Deaths High in Regional NSW

A recent post highlighted the difficulties of life in drought-affected rural NSW where alcohol deaths are high.

People in regional and remote communities of NSW are having to endure the harms of alcohol misuse, an issue which the NSW/ACT Alcohol Policy Alliance (NAAPA) has put on the 2019 NSW election agenda.

According to reports, alcohol harm is a lot worse outside metropolitan areas than even renowned city hotspots. This prompted calls for earlier closing times in regional centres.

In these communities, domestic assaults are also higher. In fact domestic assaults were 12 times higher in rural and remote regions as compared to NSW as a whole according to Tony Brown, said NAAPA spokesperson from Newcastle University.

Another major issue in rural NSW is motor vehicle accidents in which alcohol is a factor 85 per cent of the time as compared with only 17% in major cities.